Drawing

Inspirationfrom Nature,

Architectureand Science

Magazine of the

NC Zoo Societywww.nczoo.com

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The North Carolina Zoo is open every day, weather permitting, except on Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Day. Summer admission hours begin April 1 and extend from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Winter admission hours begin November 1 and extend from 9 a.m. through 3 p.m.

Alive is published quarterly by the North Carolina Zoo Society, the private, 501(c)3 non-profit that raises funds and engenders public support for the North Carolina Zoo. Issue No.106, Fall 2021. Copy-right © by the North Carolina Zoo Society. All rights reserved.

Financial information about the NC Zoo Society and a copy of its license are available from the Charitable Solicitation Licensing Section at 888-830-4989. The license is not an endorsement by the State.

FPO/FSC

Please go to nczoo.com to purchase any items listed in the Alive magazine or to make a donation to the Zoo Society. If you have questions, or need help, please give us a call at 336-879-7273.

On the Cover....

Wood Stork Matthew Cuda Alamy Stock Photo

SOCIETY BOARD

JOHN L. RUFFIN Chair

Winston-Salem NICOLE CRAWFORD

Vice Chair Durham

THERENCE O. PICKETT Secretary

GreensboroBILL CURRENS

Treasurer Charlotte

WILLIAM “BILLY” CLARKE Asheville

SCOTT JONES Clemmons

WALKER MOFFIT Asheboro

DAVID K. ROBB Charlotte

BARRY C. SAFRIT Greensboro

MARGERY J. SPRINGER Raleigh

S. M. “MONTY” WHITE, JR. Raleigh

CHERYL C. ARMSTRONG Asheboro

Executive Director Assistant Secretary

EDITORIAL BOARD

Jayne Owen Parker, Ph.D., Managing Editor

De Potter, Design & LayoutAngie Kahn, Proofreader

Cheryl Armstrong John D. Groves

Corinne Kendall, Ph.D.Mark MacAllisterTonya SaundersJb Minter, DVM

Pat SimmonsDustin Smith

Roger SweeneyDiane Villa

Printed by Hickory Printing Solutions

Fall 2021 Issue No.106

3 Better By the Dozen Jayne Owen Parker, Ph.D., Director Communications & Education

5 Dear Friend of the Zoo Cheryl Armstrong, Zoo Society Executive Director

6 A Big Addition to the Zoo

7 Thank Yous

8 Baboons on the Rocks

10 Twenty Years Serving Wildlife - Halley Buckanoff, BS, CVT, CWR - Wildlife Center Supervisor

12 Protecting Our Families Jayne Owen Parker, Ph.D.

13 What’s Up Next Year?

15 Go Behind the Scenes

BC Zoo Society 2021 Christmas Ornament

This ISSUE

In May,

the North Carolina Zoo celebrated the births of a dozen

American Red Wolves. These births have special significance because the

American Red Wolf is the world’s most critically endangered Canid. The North

Carolina Zoo has been sheltering and breeding this rare species for nearly three decades.

The Zoo first exhibited Red Wolves in 1995 when it opened its

North American continental region. Two years later, the Zoo opened a behind-

the-scenes breeding site for these wolves and began participating in the Red Wolf

Species Survival Plan® managed by the Asso-ciation of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Gifts to the Zoo Society from the Florence Rogers Charitable Trust and other donors funded the construction of this secluded, non-public breeding area for the wolves.

Around 2015, grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Emily Millis-Hiatt Foundation Fund allowed the Zoo to double the size of its original breeding facility. This expansion provided enough room for the Zoo to house 36 American Red Wolves—the second largest breeding group in the world.

A Brief History of the American Red WolfOnce common throughout the southeastern United States, the American Red Wolf barely survived colonial wolf extermination pro-grams that shot, poisoned, trapped, and killed the animals throughout their historic range. By the time the 1973 Endangered Species Act became law, the American Red Wolf was all but extinct.

The U.S. Fish and Wild Service responded by including the American Red Wolf among the first batch of species it listed as endangered and by initiating an aggressive program to save the few remaining wolves. The Service began this last-ditch effort by capturing the last remaining group of free-ranging Red Wolves. A paltry 14 individuals were all that remained of this once wide-ranging all-American wolf! All of them were placed in a breeding program that was initially housed at the Portland Zoo.

Through careful management and assis-tance from several zoological institutions, the American Red Wolf ’s population expanded. Eventually, it grew large enough to support a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduction program.

Better by the Dozen

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This restoration effort began in ear-nest in 1987 when the Service released four wolves into the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in eastern North Carolina. Initially, this program showed significant success. By early 2002, as many as 150 Red Wolves lived in and around the official recovery area in eastern North Carolina, primarily in Dare and Hyde counties.

Unfortunately, several political and biological events began eroding these successes. Coyotes showed up and, as often happens among Canid species, began inter-breeding with the wolves. A few local landowners started com-plaining about the wolves wandering out of the wildlife refuge and hunting down deer. These complaints and other entanglements prompted the Service to begin withholding resources from the recovery.

Without protection and support, the wild population declined rapidly, falling to only eight known wolves at last count. As the species slipped away, a series of lawsuits were filed to restore protection to the wolves. Eventually, U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to resume its reintroduction efforts by 2020.

As the courts ground out their deci-sions, AZA, the Zoo and 43 other zoo-logical institutions continued to protect and breed American Red Wolves. During this time, the Zoo not only managed the second largest breeding group of this species, the Zoo’s Management Supervisor, Chris Lasher, became the Coordina-tor for AZA’s American Red

Wolf Species Survival Plan. Mr. Lasher is also credited with creating AZA’s Red Wolf SAFE Program.

Saving the American Red WolfThe American Red Wolf ’s survival depends on the ability of scientific and conservation agencies to manage the species under human care and to grow its population large enough to support a successful reintroduction program. The Zoo and other AZA institutions are already looking for future reintroduc-tion sites and are managing breeding programs for the species.

The North Carolina Zoo hopes to expand its contributions to this survival strategy by enlarging its current breed-

ing facility and creating an American Red Wolf Conservation Center on the Zoo site. The Center’s mission will be to ensure a sustainable future for the American Red Wolf by increasing the size of the population under human care and educating the public about the needs and value of this species. The proposed Center will house as many as 60 wolves.

The Zoo has set aside $100,000 to begin constructing the Center, but additional funds are needed to complete the project. We hope that our members and friends will support this effort by making a direct donation to the proj-ect or purchasing one of our Red Wolf special adoption packages.

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Dear Friend of the Zoo,We are still celebrating the June births of a dozen American Red Wolf pups at the Zoo. Their arrival brings us so much joy since the puppies are crucial to the survival of this highly endangered species.

A nose-count of the world’s remaining Red Wolves could leave us feeling helpless. Today, its total population numbers do not reach 300. And, while losing any species is a tragedy—the loss of this wolf would be incredibly disheartening.

For one thing, the American Red Wolf is the only wolf to ever evolve inside the continental United States. For another, it is the only wolf that has never extended its range outside of America’s borders. It is truly an all-American animal.

Besides having deep American roots, the species has already survived one near-miss with extinction.In the early 1980s, its population fell below 20 animals. The

American Red Wolf lives today because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 44 zoological institutions, and a host of nonprofits cooperated to make it so.

We hope you share our gratitude for their commitment and agree that this is a species worth saving. If you do, please consider making a donation—no matter how small—to support the American Red Wolf Conservation Center planned for the Zoo. You can do so directly by visiting nczoo.com and choosing “American Red Wolf below the Give to the Zoo menu item.

If you prefer, you can also help by adopting an American Red Wolf puppy from our website. Adoption prices begin at $75, and your adoption papers arrive with a printed copy of some of the puppies’ footprints. Visit nczoo.com and select “Adoptions” to adopt or to learn more.If you are not comfortable using the web, you can always call us (336.879.7273).

Thank you for helping us protect this all-American species. Don’t forget to visit the Zoo soon to see the pups in their habitat. Free and frequent Zoo visits are everyone’s favorite benefit of being a Zoo Society member.

Best regards,

Cheryl ArmstongExecutive DirectorNC Zoo Society

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A BIG Addition to the ZooOn your next visit to the Zoo, stop by to see Louie, a

handsome new bull in the African Elephant habitat. Louie should be easy to recognize. He has a nice pair of

sparkling tusks, stands about nine feet at the shoulder, and tips the scales at 8,220 pounds. As large as that all seems, he is still the smallest bull in our herd. But, that will likely change soon.

Technically and developmentally, Louie is still a teenager. He just turned 18 in April. By the time he reaches full maturity at 25, Louis will likely be 1,000 to 5,000 pounds heavier and a foot or three taller than he is today.

While he’s growing, the Zoo will focus on helping him suc-cessfully woo and win the favors of at least one of the four female elephants living in the Park. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums had a hand in arranging any of these potential unions. The elephant experts who authored the Association’s most recent African Elephant Species Survival Plan (SSP®) picked Louie out from the herd as an ideal match for the Zoo’s

youngest elephant cows. Once this recommendation was in place, curators at the

Omaha Zoo agreed to transfer Louie to North Carolina and arranged for Louie to travel here with one of his favorite keep-ers. Both arrived in early June, and the Omaha keeper stayed here long enough to help him settle into his new surroundings. The Omaha keeper eased the transfer by acquainting the North Carolina Zoo’s Animal Management Supervisor Nancy Kauffman and her team of elephant keepers with some of Louie’s quirks, personality traits, and likes and dislikes. By the time the keeper left, the Zoo’s staff and Louie were well on their way to becoming old friends.

More Than Fun and GamesAs excited as we are to see Louie at the Zoo, we also recog-nize the serious issues that provoked the SSP’s recommenda-

tion for this transfer. Secretary Reid Wilson (N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources) touched on these issues in an official statement about Louie’s arrival.Secretary Reid emphasized that Louie’s move to North Carolina “not only supports our overarching commitment to the preservation of endangered species, but it also provides a path to growing the elephant population at the Zoo. The North Carolina Zoo has a proud history of world-class elephant care and management, and we welcome Louie to our program and family.”

The need to carefully manage the size and genetic diversity of elephant populations in the United States grows from the uncertain future African Elephants face in the wild. Poaching and habitat destruction continue to chip away at Africa’s existing elephant population, setting the species on a collision course with extinction unless extreme countermeasures can be put in place to protect these animals. Viable, well-managed elephant popu-lations in zoos and other human-care settings provide one mechanism for buffering these losses and safeguard-ing the species’ future.

That said, it is not enough to just breed and manage these animals

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Alexa & Eli Aboudaram Paul & Susan Alexander American Association of

Zoo Veterinarians Stephanie & Brian Anderson Sandra Andrews &

Benjamin Andrews Anonymous Arch MI Ononlunose & Ajenadoro

Arhuidese Association of Zoos

& Aquariums Richard Barker & Stephanie

Collins Barker Ms. Sarah B. Barnhardt Bobby & Rebecca Barr BB&T now Truist John Becton & Nancy

Tannenbaum Bernard Robinson & Co Shaun & Kimberly Berrier Rosan & David Blair Edward Blomgren & Lana

Briscoe-Blomgren Philip & Amy Blumenthal Walter & Michelle Boyle Scott R. Bridge Ron & Cathy Butler Estate of Mary G. Bynum Richard & Terri Cameron John & Corina Canipe Joe & Christine Carter CentralSquare Technologies Mr. Richard Chambers &

Ms. Bonnie McGregor Dennis Clements &

Martha Ann Keels

Susan Coulter & Joseph Coulter III

Mr. PH Craig John Crosland III Curi William & Sarah Currens Mr. Nicholas Dakas &

Dr. Kelly Meador Benjamin & Lora Davidson Davidson County Public

Library System Tim Davis Pamela Dawson Stephanie & Justin Denning Mr. Charles DeSantis &

Ms. Eileen Dillon Fitzgerald Family

Foundation, Inc. John Foley Mrs. Harriette M. Frank Mr. Bradley Fraser &

Mrs. Sheree Burns Parks & Jane Freeze Genie Frick Mr. Paul Fulton Ms. Hannah E. Giammarco Sanford Godwin The Estate of David

A. Goodwin James & Kelly Green Maxwell & Grace Gregson The Growing Place at

First Baptist Church Megan E. Guinee The Estate of Joan

M. Gulledge Deborah & David Haimes

Halifax County Tourism Development Authority

Jodee & Dennis Hallett Hamilton’s Steakhouse James D. Harper &

Patricia F. O’Leary Gil & Dana Hartis Susan & John Hatchett James & Ahnna

Hengsterman-Cash Highmark Companies Jimmy & Pam Hill Gil & Carleen Hill J. Henry Hogan Mrs. Rebecca Horn Richard & Sarah Howe Mrs. Frances L. Huffman Ivey & Eggleston,

Attorneys at Law Benjamin & Savannah

Johnson Ransom & Melissa Jones Walter & Nancy Joyce Ms. Sherry A. Kellett Sheree & Richard Kellogg Mr. Thomas S. Kenan III Dr. & Mrs. Jim Kinlaw Mr. Daniel D. Lance Dr. Phyllis Lang Lynn & Al LaPrade Mrs. Amy L. Leander Christopher A. Leazer

& Heath C. Ramsey Little Rock Zoo Ms. Sara Lucas & Mr.

Steve Schaefer Eddie & Ginger Lynch Molly & Charlie Lyons

MAS Acme USA Jon & Leona Matta McDowell Lumber Co. Bob & Bonnie Meeker Mr. Alessandro Montanari

& Dr. Amie Kawasaki Jodi & Dan Morehart Ms. Susan D. Nance National Fleet Management Nivison Family Foundation Michael & Linda Nutt Mr. & Mrs. Perry E. Nystrom Jonathan & Amber O’Brien David & Cailtin Odom Allyson & David Page PEMMCO Manufacturing Steve & Donna Pernotto Spencer & Andy Ponto Ms. Deborah Reichert &

Mr. Chanchal Samanta Replacements Ltd. Griffin & Nicole Rice Richard J. Reynolds,

III and Marie M. Reynolds Foundation

Mike & Jane Ritter David & Tamara Robb Ms. Danielle Roberts Estate of William V. Roessler John & Fowler Ruffin Daphne Rupard Safe-T-Works, Inc Mr. Barry C. Safrit Paul & Melanie Sanders W. & M. Scheppers Ms. Angela Schettini Seqirus, Inc.

Mr. Joseph Shaffer & Ms. Darlene Peterson

Sylvia Shaver Shepherd’s Way Day School Adah & Clay Shields Bryan & Beverly Shouse Mr. Jeremy Sliwinski &

Ms. Brittany Richard Mr. & Mrs. C. Hamilton Sloan Melissa & Dustin Smith Mr. & Mrs. Sherwood

H. Smith, Jr. Paul Speaks Mr. Ford Springer Rebecca Glenn Springer Service Systems

Associates SSA StarPet, Inc. Mary P. Stephenson Matt & Emily Stevenson Jared & Sydney Strickland Samuel Lynn & Debra Swaim Randall & Joyce Teague The Leonard G.Herring

Family Foundation Christian & Terrie Thoma Timken Foundation of Canton Mr. James W. Turner Uwharrie Bank Uwharrie Builders, LLC Randal Von Seggern James & Ronda Watts Steve & Cindy Weatherford West Rock Paul & Sally Wright G. Smedes & Rosemary York Estate of Frances D. Young

Thank yous go out to the very generous donors who provided gifts of $1,000 or more to the Society, 4/1/21–7/21/21.A THANK YOUS B

under human care. To truly save elephants (and so many other species) from extinction, we must protect elephants from poach-ers and guard the animals’ wild habitats.

The North Carolina Zoo has been actively addressing both of these issues since 1998 when our staff began working with local biologists and rangers to protect elephant populations in Cameroon and other West African countries. Zoo staff regularly travels to Africa to train and work with local professionals pro-tecting elephants.

In Africa, the Zoo’s veterinarians safely anesthetize wild elephants so that local wildlife officials can fit the animals with satellite tracking collars. The collars upload the elephants’ location data to passing satellites, which download the infor-mation to secure internet connections with rangers and other conservationists. Scientists use the data to mitigate or prevent human-elephant conflicts and identify regions needing protec-tion for elephants. To learn more about the North Carolina Zoo

and our elephant program, please visit www.nczoo.org.

More About Fun and GamesBecause Louie is still a big, growing teenager with lots of energy to spare, the Zoo is asking for help acquiring some big sturdy toys to enrich his environment and keep him fit and vital for the ladies. Mammal Curator Jay Stutz has set up a wishlist just for Louie on the Wildlife Toy Box web page. Anyone can visit https://www.wildlifetoybox.com/wishlist/5 to see these toys or to pur-chase one for Louie.

Because elephant playthings do not come cheap,the Zoo Society has also set up a donation page for Louies Toy Box on our website so that anyone who would like to help out can donate $5 or more toward a Louie toy of their choice. Just visit nczoo.com and choose the “Louie the Elephant Wishlist” menu item under “Give to the Zoo.

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Baboons on the RocksIf you have walked through the Zoo lately, you may have

noticed the absence of the African Pavilion—the iconic, tented building that once loomed over the Watani Grasslands

habitat. And, you may have wondered about the large, plain new building in that area..

In the coming months, Zoo artists will be transforming this new, nondescript structure into a natural backdrop for a new and improved Hamadryas Baboon habitat. Initially, artists will mask the block exterior behind mounds of artificial rocks, shap-ing them to resemble the sandstone cliffs where Hamadryas Baboons congregate in Ethiopia’s northern highlands.

As the rock facade takes shape, Zoo artists will work their magic to sculpt a series of archways, columns, and doors onto the cliff face. Eventually, their work will appear to be a sand-stone building protruding from the rocky surface.

The habitat’s rock-cut ruins and surrounding cliffs are just two of many features that will add authenticity to the baboons’ new living spaces. Both structures resemble features that exist in the baboons’ natural habitat. Both will provide climbing struc-tures for the monkeys. A large window in the hewn-cut building will open the way for guests to see inside the animal’s day room. This opening means that guests can see the baboons during the winter months when temperatures are too cold for the animals to be outside.

Zoo artists will spend the next several months creating this realistic backdrop for the improved habitat. Because much of this work will take place outside, the progress of the work will add another exciting element to a Zoo visit—the ultimate “plein-air” exhibit.

Artistic InspirationsThe new habitat design is inspired by the architecture of rock-hewn churches and walls found in northern Ethiopia, the native region of the Hamadryas Baboons. Wild Hamadryas Baboons often make the ruins of many of these ancient buildings their home. (Artists’ clay models below.)

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Twenty Years Serving WildlifeHalley Buckanoff

Two decades ago, the Zoo’s veterinary section built an adjunct facility to provide veterinary services to native North Carolina animals. Funded by donations to the Zoo

Society, the Valerie H. Schindler Wildlife Rehabilitation Center made a small surgery/treatment room, two wards, a classroom and office, and several outdoor rehabilitation enclosures exclu-sively available to injured and orphaned native animals. Then, as now, Zoo veterinarians and technicians provided veterinary care to the patients and relied on students and other volunteers for help with nursing and rehabilitation services.

The facility allowed Zoo personnel to bring native species under the umbrella of care already available to Zoo animals. The decision to soothe the pain and suffering of native animals arose as a natural consequence of the Zoo’s broad commitment to animal welfare, preventive medicine, and veterinary education.

At its most basic level, treating sick and injured wildlife is both merciful and kind, but it is also wise and prac-tical. Sick wildlife brought to the Center can serve as an early warning system, alerting the veterinary staff to disease outbreaks that could potentially spread to the Zoo’s animals, nearby livestock, or even to people.

Providing expert care to orphaned, sick, or injured animals also creates extraordinary training opportunities for veterinary students, interns, and residents and for novice and expe-rienced wildlife rehabilitators. Sharing the Zoo’s expertise prepares these people to provide better and more humane care to wildlife.

As an aside, the Center serves the greater human commu-nity, too, by reducing the anguish and hopelessness people feel when they encounter a suffering animal. The Center rewards their compassion by offering sound professional guidance and, when possible, admitting an animal as a patient, treating its veterinary issues, and returning it to the wild.

Dishing Out ComfortThe Center alleviates suffering in a variety of different ways. Sometimes, we address suffering by calming a distressed caller and advising him or her on the best way to help an animal that appears to be in trouble. At other times, we reduce suffering by taking in an orphan and arranging its surroundings to reduce unnecessary stresses while teaching it the skills it will need to survive in the wild.

We also deal with severe veterinary issues by performing surgeries or administering medications. If we can fix an animal or cure its illness, we nurse it until it proves that it has the skills and stamina it will need to survive in the wild. And, when an animal is so sick or damaged that we cannot end its suffering, we humanely euthanize it.

It Takes a VillageOften, our most helpful service comes in the form of good advice. For example, we recently received a frantic call from a woman who had returned home to find a cluster of tiny bats squeaking and struggling on the ground beside her house. She didn’t want to hurt them, but she feared they were sick and might harm her or her family or pets.

The caller lived too far away for our staff to go out to help her. And, we didn’t know enough about her situation to offer advice about what to do. Instead, we put her in touch with a bat biol-ogist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. The biologist knew all the right questions to ask and quickly realized that the bats were not sick. They were just frightened, overheated pups that had fallen out of their roost. Once on the ground, the pups could not launch themselves to get back to their mothers.

Except for the members of a few species, bats cannot take off from the ground. Their wings simply cannot flap fast enough or hard enough to lift their bodies from a sitting position into the air. Generally, bats achieve flight by spreading their wings and dropping down from a high perch—an aeronautic constraint that dooms bats to roosts and sleep upside down.

Because the bat biologist understood the pups’ predicament, she also knew how to overcome their problem. She stayed on the line with the caller, providing step-by-step instructions to get the pups airborne and back with their mothers. Once reunited, the

bats’ suffering ended, and so did the caller’s. We could hear the relief in her voice when she called to thank us for helping her as well as the bats.

Do Our Interventions Work?Medical doctors and most veterinarians get feedback about the treatments they prescribe. They hear if their patients get better or not. Wildlife veterinarians and rehabilitators aren’t usually that lucky. Once our patients leave, it is hard to track them down. And, since one nuthatch or rabbit looks pretty much like all the others, rehabilitators have to take extra measures to get feed-back from former patients.

One technique we use is to band birds that we release into the wild. Banding is especially useful when we apply it to a bird we release near the Center. In 2019, we admitted several Carolina Wren chicks found on the ground after something had destroyed their nest. The chicks were relatively young—little, nondescript tufts of feathers that bore no resemblance to adult members of their species. After confirming that they were wrens, we took on the role of their surrogate parents. We sheltered them in anappropriate artificial nest. We fed them a species-appropriate

Carolina Wren chick begging for food

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diet. We put them on a diurnal feeding schedule modeled after the one their parents would have followed. We groomed them to keep them clean, and as they began showing signs of fledging, we introduced them to an outside rehabilitation enclosure.

The enclosure acquainted them with the sights, sounds, and temperatures they would encounter when released. And, the pen gave them plenty of room to stretch their wings, build up their muscles, and become accomplished hunters and flyers. Once our team agreed that a fledgling could fend for itself and was appropriately wary of people, we banded it and set it free near the Rehab Center.

These bands give us intermittent feedback about the success of our former treatments. Now, two years after their release, we still occasionally catch glimpses of these Carolina Wrens at the bird feeders we maintain outside the Schindler Center. The birds’ comings and goings confirm that we successfully allevi-ated their suffering and successfully prepared them to survive in the wild.

Tricky CasesOne of our most exciting and complex cases involved a Wood Stork with a broken wing. The Zoo’s veterinarians surgically pinned the bird’s wing, but it required a lot of physical therapy to get it flying again. But, before we could provide this therapy, we had to overcome the bird’s refusal to eat. The stork rejected every tidbit we had to offer. It turned up its beak to frozen fish, thawed fish, warmed-over fish. If the fish wasn’t swimming, this bird was not eating.

The the only option we had to keep this bird alive was to fish. Staff, volunteers, and even some neighbors picked up their poles and fished, and fished, and fished. What they caught, they brought back to us to release into a little makeshift pool. Thanks to all of this outside help, our stork recov-ered completely.

Unfortunately, by the time it was fully rehabbed and ready for release, we faced another problem. Only a few Wood Storks spend time in North Carolina (the state lists this species as endangered), and when our bird was ready to fly, the state’s few resident storks had already started making their way south for the winter.

We didn’t want our stork to try migrating without the protection and guidance offered by a flock, so we turned to South Carolina Wildlife for help. After a short conversation, we packed our bird up in a van, drove it across the state line, and left it in the competent care of wildlife officers there. Within a short time, the wildlife officers had located a migrating flock of Wood Storks and had released our bird in their company.

Of course, not all of our stories have happy endings, but we

never allow animals to suffer under our care. Our hearts break every time we have to euthanize an animal. We suffer because we want to help it and because we don’t want to disappoint the caring per-son who brought the animal to us for help.

However, our first obligation is to spare our patients from suffering, so we never release an animal that cannot care for itself in the wild. We don’t want to aban-don it to suffer and starve in misery. We

owe it to our patients to make humane decisions about their care, even when the decisions are hard for us to face.

Helping Humanity, TooThe Zoo’s Wildlife Center serves people as well as wildlife. Among other things, we offer young people opportunities to volunteer and explore career opportunities in veterinary med-icine. We have accepted students and volunteers from across North America and, as a consequence, we have gotten to know youngsters from a range of cultural, ethnic, racial, and socio-economic backgrounds. They have enriched us with the varied stories of their lives, and we have enriched them by sharing our knowledge and skills.

We also work with adults who want to improve their skills as wildlife rehabilitators. They come to us because they enjoy the

challenge of helping wildlife and want to improve their skills. Veterinary interns and students benefit from the Center, too. Our Center offers them hard to come by experiences treating wild animals and exposes them to the federal and state laws that apply to the treatment of native wild ani-mals. Finally, we serve the public by offering advice on wildlife issues and giving professional aid and compas-sion to animals in need.

Banded and successfully rehabilitated Carolina Wren

Wood Stork pre-release examination

Wood Stork taking off to join a new flock.

Protecting Our FamiliesJayne Owen Parker, Ph.D., Director Communications & Education

In mid-summer, the North Carolina Zoo became one of 85 American zoos that won approval to receive doses of a COVID-19 vaccine developed specifically for wild animals.

Zoetis, a former subsidiary of Pfizer, developed the vaccine, which was also made available to a dozen or so other wildlife institutions—reserves, sanctuaries, etc. Zoetis is donating the 11,000 doses needed to serve these organizations.

The North Carolina Zoo’s Director of Animal Health, Dr. Jb Minter, requested access to this vaccine quite early. His logic was straightforward and personal. He got vaccinated as soon as he could because he wanted to protect himself and his family. Now he is vaccinating the Zoo’s animals because “these animals are part of my family, too, and I want to protect them as well.”

Why the Rush?COVID-19 has already infected several zoo animals. A few gorillas at the San Diego Zoo tested positive for COVID-19 in January. All demonstrated worrisome symptoms—cough-ing and sniffling and acting lethargic—of the disease. Since then, several zoo cats—including lions and tigers and a snow leopard—and a zoo otter have tested positive for COVID-19. And, so have thousands of minks in mink farms around the world. The evidence so far suggests that asymptomatic people infected most, if not all, of these animals.

The Zoo’s vaccine protocol mimics the one established for people by the Centers for Disease Control. The most vulner-able individuals go first. At our Zoo, that will be gorillas and chimpanzees, followed closely by big cats, bears, wolves, and otters. Each animal will receive two doses of the vaccine, just like people do.

How Was the Vaccine Developed So Quickly?This vaccine owes its fast delivery to a Pomeranian that caught COVID from its owner early in the pandemic. The pup’s illness prompted Zoetis researchers to try developing a safe vaccine for pets. While that research proceeded, a major COVID-19 epidemic broke out in a Denmark mink farm. This epidemic spread like wildfire across the globe as asymptomatic handlers infected the minks, a species that turned out to be highly sus-ceptible to the disease. About five percent of the infected minks died, and the surviving minks presented an unanticipated threat to public health.

Like people, many minks don’t feel or act sick when infected with the virus, and asymptomatic minks can spread the dis-ease to other minks. Because COVID-19 swept through mink ranches from Norway to Utah, the potential number of asymp-tomatic animals carrying the disease became huge. Public health officials worried that these carriers would turn into walk-ing Petri dishes infested with multiplying and possibly mutating COVID pathogens that could turn into more deadly variants.

And, there were concerns that these asymptomatic animals would harbor reservoirs of COVID pathogens that could spill back to infect people later.

Since Zoetis’ prototype vaccine was proving safe and effec-tive for pets, the company was well prepared to respond to the mink epidemic by shifting its focus to developing a vaccine for them. When zoo animals started getting sick, the company was prepared to help these animals by donating the vaccine to zoological institutions across the United States.

The Zoetis vaccines, just like the human versions of COVID vaccines, work by priming the immune system to recognize and destroy the tiny little string of proteins that form the “spikes” on the outer membrane of COVID pathogens. These spikes can-not transmit the disease, so the vaccine cannot make anyone

sick with COVID. The sore arms, fever, or malaise some people feel after a shot are not symptoms caused by a COVID infec-tion. They are products of an immune system kicking into high gear to search out and destroy cells wearing any of the spike proteins.

Are There Risks?As with any new medication on the market, there may be risks, but the consensus among zoo veterinarians is that the bene-fits far outweigh any potential harm. By priming the immune system to recognize that spike protein, the vaccine prevents COVID pathogens from slipping into a body unnoticed. A quick immune response reduces the chance that an infected animal will become gravely ill and minimizes the time the virus has to replicate and potentially mutate into something more deadly.

As a final note, the zoo animal vaccine is not currently avail-able to companion animals. The best thing owners can do

now to protect their pets is to get vaccinated and stay isolated if they come down with COVID.

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Step to the Head of the LineThe best way to be in the know about Zoo Society programs is to sign up for our monthly Z-mail. It’s free to anyone—not just to our members—and it is the primary venue we use for announcing our upcoming events. The Z-mail goes out at the end of each month. It is short and sweet, and it alerts you to upcoming events and programs.

The first announcement about all of the Zoo Society’s forthcoming events always goes out in these Z-mails. Consequently, our Z-mail subscribers always have the best chance of getting into a behind-the-scenes expe-rience or some other special program they crave to attend.

Signing up is easy. Just go to nczoo.com. Scroll down to the “About Us” option at the top of the page and click on “Sign up for-Zmail.” Fill out and submit the form, and you will automatically begin receiving our Z-mails every month. We don’t sell or share any information about our subscribers or our members, so you don’t have to worry about getting more than you bargained for when signing up.

What Will Be Available Next Year?Behind-the-Scenes Experiences: Well, what we can offer will depend on how well we can contain that nasty little SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. Assuming that we can continue to keep infections low and the Delta variant at bay, next year’s VIP programs and schedules should be very similar to the ones we offered this year.

One difference (fingers crossed!) we hope that you will see is a restoration of our Meet and Feed the Otter, Lions-Meet One and See it Eat, “How to Entertain a Cougar,” and “Grizzly Bear Up-Close” VIP tours. These programs were put on hold during 2021 because COVID-19 can infect big cats, otters and other mustelids, and bears.

We are obligated to protect these animals and will put them back on the tour schedule when we can keep them safe. The Zoo’s veterinary staff is preparing to provide experimental vaccinations to these animals soon, so we are hopeful that you will be able to go behind the scenes with them in 2022.

What’s Up for Next Year?By the end of October, the North Carolina Zoo Society will have set the dates for all of its public VIP (Very Important

Patrons) behind-the-scenes tours and its four veterinary camps.Because many of these programs sell out quickly, we decided to give you—our treasured members—an early heads-

up about what we are planning for next year and what you can do to increase your chances of getting a reservation to a program that you or a loved one really want to attend.

Camping Out: The Zoo Society also plans to hold all four highly popular veterinary camps next year. We are planning to add some new experiences to each of these camps. We also hope that we can accept 22 campers to each program next year and that our Senior Camp will, once again, be a three-day camp.

Because we had to shrink our three-day camp down to a very long one-day camp this year, we experimented with adding some evening and nighttime family activities to the schedule. Each camper could invite one parent and one other guest to a pizza dinner, some evening camp activities, and a nighttime tour of the Park. These events proved so popular with the campers’ parents and siblings that we are considering offering some similar experiences next year. (Read about these changes first in our monthly Z-mails.)

Tentative dates for upcoming veterinary camps are May 14 and August 6 for our one-day Junior Camps and June 17-19; and July 15-17 for our three-day Senior Veterinary Camps.

A Ride-and-a-GuideThe Zoo Society will continue to offer its Ride-and-a-Guide experiences throughout the rest of this year and all through next year. Ride-and-a-Guide programs are offered Monday - Friday all year. To learn more, visit nczoo.com and click on the “Ride and a Guide” post at the bottom of the page.

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Scenes from Earlier Veterinary Camps

PHOTOS: FISHER MEADOWS

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Go Behind the Scenes With Your Favorite SpeciesPublic VIP ticket prices are $100 per person for North Carolina Zoo Society members. Add $15 per person for non-members. Visit nczoo.com/vip-tours/ to learn about tour details or to purchase your tour online.

While, at the time of this writing, the Zoo does not require guests to wear masks in most public areas, the Zoo Society still requires guests to wear masks during all behind-the-scenes tours. These masks are needed to pro-tect our staff and the Zoo’s animals from potential exposure to COVID-19.

Until further notice, guests—even those who are fully vaccinated— will not be permitted behind the scenes without a mask.

2021 FALL “Very Important Patron” Tours of the ZooPlease note: Our VIP Tours are not suitable for young children, and age restrictions are in place for all of our tours. In

all cases, a paying adult must accompany guests who are younger than 17.Quoted prices for our public tours admit one North Carolina Zoo Society member to a tour. Add $15 to cover the cost

of a non-member VIP ticket. VIP prices do not cover general Zoo admission. Non-members must pay regular admission fees to enter the Zoo.

Aviary Tour: Rare Birds in Training9:15 a.m. Begins at the Aviary Entrance. Must be at least 10 years old.Last remaining public tour: September 11

Bison & Elk: Plains Safari1:30 p.m. Begins at the Grizzly Habitat. Must be at least 8 years old.Last remaining public tour: September 11.

Deserts of the World: Ocelots, Porcupines, & More11 a.m. Begins at the Ocelot habitat. Must be at least 5 years old.Last remaining public tour: October 2.

Elephant: Meet, Greet, See Them Trained1:15 p.m. Begins at Stedman Education Building. Must be at least 12 years old. Last remaining public tours: September 18, October 16.

Giraffe: Meet & Feed the Giraffes5:30 p.m. Begins at Giraffe Viewing Area. Must be at least 6 years oldLast remaining public tours: September 25, October 23.

Gorillas: Meet & See How to Train & Feed a 200-pound Gorilla1:15 p.m. Begins at Gorilla Habitat. Must be at least 8 years old.Last remaining public tours: September 25, October 9.

Lion: Meet & See’m Eat3 p.m. Begins at Lion Habitat. Must be at least 12 years old.Last remaining public tour: September 18.

Meet the Puffins1:30 p.m. Begins at the North American Porcupine Habitat at Rocky Coast. Must be at least 5 years old. Not ADA accessible.Last remaining public tour: October 9.

2021 Private Behind-the-Scenes ToursAll VIP Tours listed above can be scheduled as private tours. Private Tours for Chimpanzees can also be arranged.

Private tours provide the same experience as VIP tours, but we work with you to hold the tour on a date that you choose. Tour dates are limited by staff availability.

Private tours range in price from $535 for Zoo Society members to $595 for non-members. Prices admit up to six people of your choice to your Private Tour. (Total group size is limited to six people.)

Non-members buying a private tour become family members at the time of their purchase. (A family membership provides free Zoo admission to two adults and their minor children or grandchildren.) Non-member guests not covered by this membership must pay regular Zoo admission prices.

To purchase a public VIP tour or to arrange a Private Behind-the-Scenes Tour, visit nczoo.com and choose the VIP Tours menu option under Extraordinary Experience.

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4403 Zoo ParkwayAsheboro, NC 27205www.nczoo.com

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The Zoo Society's 2021 Exclusive, Limited Edition Christmas Tree Ornament is here.Like so many of the Society’s previous decorations, this year's handcrafted ornament was created by North Carolina artist Chris Gabriel.

Our exclusive 2021 Chilean Flamingo ornament is available for $25.99 on the Zoo Society's website (nczoo.com).